This time porting Python code to MicroPython wasn’t only about fixing syntax and API. It turns out that for the e-paper display library that uses relatively big amounts of data at once, you have to sweat a bit more to get satisfactory results.

This is a story of how I got the air quality sensor to transmit its data via LoRa, from the balcony of my flat, over LoRaWAN nano-gateway to TTN router in the Netherlands, then to my relay server elsewhere in Europe, and to the database on the Raspberry Pi in the living room of the same flat. (Not) just because it can™.

It’s been a while since I deployed the WiPy-powered air quality monitor on my balcony. I have since replaced the microcontroller with a LoPy4 to enable LoRa connectivity, and I switched to a custom-made PCB.

Base iOS client version 3.5.2 is a build number 2259. Base 2.3 from January 2013 was a build number 270. Roughly 2000 builds in 5 years means roughly 8 builds every week, and if you won’t optimize it to be a streamlined task, it can become a painful experience.

Inspirations

This blog has so far encouraged 11 people (that I know of) to give it a try with hardware and embedded programming. It is a very big deal to me.

If you found it useful or inspiring, I'd love to hear from you too, as it gives me an extra boost to tinker, invent and share more. I'd greatly appreciate if you leave a comment under a blog post or shoot me a short e-mail via the Contact form.